Orcas School Board: from Montessori to Football

Vikings foresee fielding football this fall

— by Margie Doyle–

At the Orcas Island School District (OISD) meeting on  Feb. 25,  a charming duo of elementary Montessori students thanked the school board. One, Scarlett Coffey said that she valued her Montessori public school education because “I understand the way the program teaches; it challenges me but it’s fun and I learn a lot.”

Earlier, a sizable contingent of  Montessori parent requested that the board continue and expand the program within the public school, to ensure the long-term success of the Montessori program. Parents commended Martha Inch, Montessori primary grades teacher, and cited the “proven educational approach and high demand for programs in the upper grades.”

Middle/High School Principal Kyle Freeman reported on a meeting held mid-February,  by supporters of the football program, to discuss the future of the high school varsity football program. The meeting was informed by a joint survey conducted by the Orcas Park and Rec District and the Orcas School Athletic Program.

Freeman said, “The [low player] numbers reflected what we see right now: a lot of kids not playing, and concern about head and other injuries…It’s not our intention to cut support [for football], it’s that there may not be enough kids that want to play football.”

At the Feb. 25 meeting Freeman said there were 15 students who’d indicated an interest in playing, “Including three kids who will be 8th graders next year.”

The group discussed “how” to keep football, rather than “why” keep football, Freeman said, with the discussion including playing 8-man football for two years, or playing a Junior Varsity (JV) schedule, as Darrington School District has done. Feeder programs through Orcas Park and Rec are important to consider in the long-term look at high school football.

Freeman said that in light of the low turnout so far, he’d asked football Coach Justin Frausto to recruit for students. (Update as of March 4: Freeman said that with 20 students signed up for the Orcas team next year, the school’s traditional varsity program will go forward in the fall.)

As the board discussed the matter, they clearly stated their priorities for student safety and maintaining curriculum compliance and grade eligibility in line with its educational values. They agreed with Superintendent Eric Webb who said, “If enough kids show up, we have a program; if they don’t, we won’t.”

In further news, Superintendent Webb  report announced that the Feb. 9 maintenance and operations levy had passed with 72.2% approval. He reviewed some of the problems with stormwater draining at the school, including a low spot that requires daily pump-outs. He thanked District testing coordinator Tom Tillman for conducting OASIS testing throughout state at sites where OISD students live, such as Gig Harbor, Renton, and Spokane.

The board will address the process of installing a track around the school athletic fields in March. The process began with an anonymous $1M donation last year. Webb said the board will decide whether to move forward and look at the summary budgets and preliminary design to “make sure we’re all in agreement.”

Business report
OISD Business Manager Keith Whitaker presented the district’s monthly report and said the fund balance is “well above previous years  [February reports].”

He also announced that the new school bus has been purchased out of the transportation fund and is in service on school bus routes.

He expressed his concerns about enrollment, and in making enrollment projections for next year. “With an assumed enrollment of 775, a drop of 20 [full-time students] translates to $130,000 taken out of the budget.

He drew attention to the State Legislature’s proposed budgets, saying that the Senate version was preferable to that of the House. In the House version, for every dollar budgeted to teacher salaries, the cost to the local school district will be $1.75, Whitaker said.